Portable electronic pets, such as the TAMAGOTCHI digital pets, are known. A TAMAGOTCHI pet is a small electronic device that provides a pet simulation. TAMAGOTCHI pet characters are based on a variety of things, such as animals or people. TAMAGOTCHI pets are premised on the concept that the pets are an alien species placed on earth as an egg. A player raises the TAMAGOTCHI pet, which will mature differently depending on the player provided influences. The user interface consists of physical buttons and a display screen, and the pet may include other peripheral devices, such as a speaker. A variety of menus and options for interacting with the toy are provided. For example, a health menu that details the pet's health status (such as weight, hunger, et cetera) is provided. TAMAGOTCHI is a registered trademark of Kabushiki Kaisha Bandai Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Pets with an online presence are also known. For example, WEBKINZ pets, which are stuffed animals with online avatars, combine an online or virtual component with a physical toy. Each physical toy includes a printed secret code that provides access to an associated web site in which a virtual version of the pet is available for online play. WEBKINZ is a registered trademark of Ganz Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.